Frictional driving mechanism for rolling-mills.



A. J. JAMESON.

PRIGTIONAL DRIVING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. e, 1910.

1,03%;679, Patented July 16, 1912.

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0111SZM11K W MwZM ALBERT J. JAMEsON,

STEEL AND WIRE COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY, OF

PORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

or woRoEsTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To THE AMERICAN HOBOKEN, NEWJERSEY, A COR- FRIGTIONAL DRIVING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING-MILLS.

aoaae'ra.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 1912.

Application filed September 6, 1910; Serial No. 580,645.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT JAMES JAME- SON, of Worcester, in the countyof VVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Frictional Driving Mechanism for Rolling-Mills,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to apparatus used for driving rolling mills andmore particularly relates to the driving mechanism used in connectionwith cold rolling mills for cold rolling.

Heretofore, in the operation of rolling mills, both the top and thebottom rolls have been positively driven at the same angular velocityandany variation in diameter of the two rolls resulted in these rollsrotating at different surface speeds. In the rolling operations withrolls of different diameters, one roll or the other will slip upon thesurface of thefmetal being rolled on account of the difference insurface speed, causing rapid wear of the rolls as well as the drivinggears and in'some cases result- I ing in breakage of the driving gears,spindies, coupling boxes, roll wabblers or other parts of the rolldriving apparatus. has also been the practice in some cases to drive butone, generally the top roll, by frictional engagement with the metalbeing rolled, to insure rotation of the rolls at a uniform surfacespeed, corresponding to the surface speed of the metal being rolled, andin this way overcoming the slip and other difficulties experiencedinusing rolls of unequal diameters and preventing breakage caused by theslippage and unequal strains put upon the driving mechanism, when thesurface speed of the rolls is not uniform and differs from that of themetal being rolled.

One object of my invention is to provide a driving mechanism for rollingmills of improved construction having novel means for independentlydriving both rolls at a uniform surface speed equal to that at which themetal being rolled travels between the; rolls without reference to therelative diameters of the rolls, that is, in the sense that one roll isnot frictionallydi iven by contact with the metal being rolled.

Another object of the invention is to provide roll driving mechanismhaving improved means for preventing excessive wear on the driving gearsor pinions and for overcoming slippage between the contacting surfacesof the rolls and the 'metal being rolled, and by the use of whichliability of breakage of the vrolls and roll driving mechanism islessened and overcome.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly insection, showing a cold rolling mill and its driving pinions and showingthe frictional driving mechanism connecting the p'inions and rollsconstructed and arranged in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is adetail longitudinal section on a larger scale showing one constructionof the frictional roll driving mechanism employed in connecting the toproll of the mill with its driving in accordance with my invention.

In these drawings, 2 designates the top and 3 the bottom roll of a coldrolling mill. The rolls 2 and 3 are dows of the roll housings 4 in theusual manner, being providedvwith the usual roll bearings located in thewindows of the housings. Housing screws 5 by which the rolls areadjusted and Held in place in the housings are connected by the gears 6through a spur pinion 7 with the hand adjusting wheel 8 and a lever 9 isprovided on the adjusting wheel 8 for operating the screws 5 in raisingand lowering the top roll 2 relative to the bottom roll 3. Located at asuitable point on one side of the housings 4 are the spur gears or rollpinions 10. and 11 by which the rolls are independently driven. Thenecks of the pinions 10 and 11 are mounted in suitable bearings-12 and13 secured in the pinion housings 14 which as shown are of the inclosedtype. r

The pinion 11 is provided on the end of one neck with a spur pinion 15which is in mesh with and is driven by the spur gear 16, thisgear'meshing with and being driven by the spur pinion 17 on the end ofthe driving shaft 18 which is mounted in bearings 19 secured on thebrackets 20 forming pinion,

' hand lever (not shown).

The rolls '2 and 3 are provided on the ends of their necks with wabblers24 and the end of one neck of the driving pinions 10 and 11 is alsoprovided with similar wabblers 25. The wabbler on the lower r0113 isconnected to-the wabbler 25 on the neck of the pinion 11 by means of theordinary spindle' 26 andcoupling boxes 27 the usual wooden spreadersbeing employed to hold the coupling boxes in position. The top roll 2 isalso connected to its drivin pinion 10 by means of a spindle 28. T 'sspindle 28 which forms the driving connection between the pinion 10 andthe top roll 2 is divided transversely of its length and one portion ormember thereof is provided near one end with an annular flange 29and'with a propart of jecting end portion 30 which fits into a recess 31on the coupling member 32 forming this spindle 28. The coupling member32 is provided with a flange 33 having a plurality of stud bolts 34located atsuitably spaced distances, which enter the registering boltholes in the annular flange 35 that is loosely placed on the spindle 28on the far side of its flange 29. V f The parts forming this spindle areassembled (as is best shown in Fig. 2) with annular rings 36 of fiber orsimilar material inserted between the faces of the flange 29 and theadjacent faces of the annular ring 35 and the flange 33 on the couplingmember 32.

The flange .35 is drawn with the'ring of fiber 36 by means of the nuts37 on the stud bolts 34 so as to secure the fiber washers 36 infrictional engagement with the faces of the flanges 29'and 33. Thecoupling member 32 of this spindle is provided with a recessed portionforming a coupling box which engages with the Wabbler' 25 on one neck ofthe pinion 10 or with p the wabbler on one neck of the top roll 2.

In theoperation of my improved apparatus, both rolls are connected tothe driving pinions so as to be independently driven, the bottom roll-3being positively connected in the ordinary manner. connecting theflanged end of the spindle 28. The nuts on the bolts 34 are drawn upwith suflicient tightness to frictionally hold the'opposing surfaces ofthe flange 29 and the annular ring-35 and the face-of the flange 33 onthe into engagement the member 32 flange coupling member 32, inengagement with the annular fiber disksor' rings 36 and the frictionclutch on the shaft 18 is moved into operative engagement with thepulley 21 so as to cause the pulley to positively rotate the shaft 18and,' through the connecting gearing, to drive the pinions 10 and 11.The pinions 10 and 11 through the connecting mechanism independentlyrotate the rolls 2v and 3- during the'rolling operations. The rollseither have been or are then adjusted through the adjusting wheel 8 andthe connecting gearing until set at the re-- quired distance apart, andthe operation of rolling is then started.

When for any reason the surface speed-of one roll difiers' from that ofthe other roll and the surface speed of the metal being rolled, thefrictional surfaces formed by the faces of the fiber washers or rings 36contacting with the faces of the flanges 33 and 35 and the flange 29,will slip, and a relative axial movement of the coupling member 28 withthe coupling member 32 will be effected, in this way avoiding slip ofthe surface of either roll on the surface of the metal being rolled, andequalizing the surface speed of the top and bottom rolls and the metalbeing rolled so as to prevent excessive strains and wear upon thegearing connecting mechanism. Such relative axial movement of thefriction driving mechanism will be effected automatically as often asrequired in theoperation of the mill, the mill being otherwlse operatedin the same manner as has been the practice heretofore. By tightening orloosening the stud bolts 34 the power transmitted frictionally from tothe spindle 28 is increased and decreased to the desired extent.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in theart. The apparatus is simple and is easily kept in reair. By its use thesurface speeds of the rolls of the mill are equalized and made uniform,regardless of the relative diameters of these rolls. The objectionableslip occurring between the face of one or the other a.

is-driven by a suit- .able motor (not shown) is started to rotate of therolls and the surface of the metal being rolled is prevented, whileexcessive strains and wear, as well as possible break age or otherdamage to the connecting mechanism and undue strain upon the teeth ofthe driving pinions is preuented.

Modifications in theconstruction and arrangement of the parts may bemade without departing from my invention. The frictional drivingconnection may be applied to the bottom roll instead of to the top roll,as shown and other changes may be made within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim 1 1. In a rolling mill, a pair of rolls, a source of power, anindependent drive connection for each roll with said source of power,the drive connection of one of the rolls being divided into partshavinga frictional drive contact with one, another, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a rolling mill, the combination of roll housings having bearings,a pair of rolls having necks mounted in the bearings and provided withWabbler ends, a pinion housing, a pair of pinions mounted in the housingand provided with Wabbler ends, a

Wabbler spindle connection between the Wabmy hand.

' ALBERT J. JAMESON. 'Witnesses:

P. R. JOHNSON, H. C. WHITE.

